“The (Land Use) committee has recommended that the county build the new judicial facility near the current jail on Experiment Station road and renovate the current courthouse for administrative functions at an estimated cost of $ 20 to $ 22 million…..” Lee Becker : 10.19.10

AVOC

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October 25, 2010

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Oconee County New $ 22 Million Courthouse moving under the radar – Part 1

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By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc

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Many Oconee County residents remember 2008 and 2010 campaign pledges of County Commissioners that they did not favor building a new courthouse. The only one who did support it was Don Norris who lost his re-election in 2008. Subsequently, the courthouse discussion fell off the front pages and many citizens thought the unwise idea had been abandoned.

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Oconee County Courthouse was extensively expanded and renovated in 1996-8

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Quite the contrary, our “Big Spender” county officials keep pushing the idea including apparent ‘behind the scenes’ plans to buy land near the jail. The issue was moved out of the spotlight when the Board of Commissioners “referred” the matter to a “Citizens Committee” which turned out to be the Citizen Advisory Committed on Land Use and Planning. The committee is made up mostly of folks friendly to the county commission. Its chair is a professional planning consultant and engineer who helps build buildings.

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The Citizens Land Use Committee met last Tuesday night, October 19, 2010, and made its report. Few citizens attended but county officials, staff and interested parties helped make up a crowd of approximately 30-40 people. I did not attend but have talked to at least two who did attend. Chairman Davis and Commissioner Horton were present. Sheriff Berry was there along with the three Superior Court Judges and our Probate Judge. Most of the members of the Citizens Committee were present.

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Lee Becker did attend and video taped the presentation. Dr. Becker has a detailed article on his Oconee County Observations website. There seemed to be a consensus of those present that the County needs to proceed “full speed ahead” in building a new courthouse! It behooves citizens to read Becker’s report and watch the video of the meeting.

Reports to AVOC on the 10-19 meeting indicated that some officials were critical of the extensive renovation and addition made to the Courthouse in 1996-1998. This is surprising since the Sheriff and Superior Court Judges, along with other officials were directly involved in the drafting of the plans for the 96-98 Renovation. There were also public information meetings in the courtroom.It was openly discussed, planned and had wide public support. It was specifically listed in the SPLOST referendum and was overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

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Most of the present courthouse is a new building that was designed by Architects who met with all county and court officials before starting. Plans were reviewed by them and their input was included. A secured hall, entrance and elevator were installed to deal with the movement of inmates. An area for an office for a resident Superior Court Judge was provided. It has subsequently been subdivided to provide space for the District Attorney and other county officials. Numerous small meeting and hearing rooms were built on all floors of the courthouse. Oconee has as much or more space for hearings and mediations than most of the approximately 10 counties in which I have mediated over the last ten years.

The Oconee County Land Use and Transportation Planning Committee got only a handful of questions tonight from the audience of about 30 that turned out to view a presentation justifying the recommendation that the county start planning now to build a judicial facility separate from the existing courthouse.

.Included in the audience were a host of elected officials, including the three superior court judges, the probate court judge, the sheriff, Board of Commission Chairman Melvin Davis, Commissioners Chuck Horton and Jim Luke, and a number of county employees………………………………

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Sheriff Scott Berry, joined by the judges, argued that the current courthouse is both unsafe and inadequate for current judicial needs.

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The committee has recommended that the county build the new judicial facility near the current jail on Experiment Station road and renovate the current courthouse for administrative functions at an estimated cost of $ 20 to $ 22 million.

AVOC NOTE: Charlie Baugh, a resident and property owner at GA Highway 15 South, has been attending county meetings and monitoring spending projects for several years. The following are his comments after reading the report of the Land Use Committee Report of October 19, 2010.

The big spenders are at it again. I was unable to attend the Land Use and Transportation Committee "public hearing" on the 19th but the just-published article by Lee Becker paints a disturbing picture of the plan to ram through a new courthouse by big spenders on the Board of Commissioners with the help of our sheriff, superior court judges, and probate court judge. See http://oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/2010/10/oconee-citizen-committee-gets-few.htmlThis proceeding follows a very familiar process. Read on.

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Those who followed the "debate" about building a new jail vs. upgrading the old jail will remember that about $ 1,000,000 had been approved by Oconee voters for renovation of the jail but before the "debate" ended we wound up with a new jail twice the capacity we needed at over $ 11,000,000. The big spenders used the citizen's vote to renovate the old jail as cover to claim that the voters had approved this. They did not dare ask the voters to approve a bond issue. The financing was done with off-the-books financing by having the Association of County Commissioners sell bonds and build the jail. Oconee County signed a long term lease pledging county tax revenue and now makes a substantial monthly payment to "rent" the jail while the sheriff "rents rooms" to other counties at $ 35.00 a day to house their prisoners. This while the county hires jailers, feeds the prisoners and carries a huge liability for protection of the prisoners. All the while the sheriff and some commissioners brag about all the revenue they generate from renting rooms for prisoners.

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If you followed the process that led to the awful decision to become a junior partner with Walton County to build the Hard Labor Creek reservoir you will recall the process that resulted in Oconee becoming a junior partner in a $ 400,000,000 reservoir project based on grossly inflated estimates of future water needs. The estimates were, shall we say "overly optimistic" before the downturn but are now grossly out of line. The county entered into a contract with the Walton County Water and Sewer Authority that obligated county property tax in unlimited amount to pay the county's share of the project if revenue from water sales did not materialize. Those who are on county water and sewer already feel the result of this decision as water and sewer rates have increased substantially. Also anyone who has had to pay water and sewer tap fees knows how onerous they have become. Now the county is already making payments on the first bond issue. That bond issue was nearly $ 20,000,000 and with interest payments obligates the county to nearly $ 40,000,000 over the life of the bonds. No water is in sight but the payments must be made. Additionally, sometime in the near future the county must issue more bonds if construction is to continue. Word is, construction has "slowed" so maybe the next bond issue will not be needed for a while. Still the yearly payments on the first issue must continue with revenue generated by the utility department and/or property tax revenue.

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Now we see the same scenario unfolding. The big spender's hand selected "citizen's committee" directed by county employees and supported by those with a financial interest embark on a campaign to convince taxpayers that we need a new courthouse. The initial estimate is $ 20,000,000 to $ 22,000,000 and we all know what happens to initial estimates. The voters have approved $ 4,000,000 of SPLOST funds for renovation of the courthouse. Now we are talking about more that 5 times as much for a new courthouse. Look for the big spenders to use the voter's approval for renovation as cover as they did with the jail. At least it is not ten times as much. Watch for off-the-books financing that can be done without voter approval. If our Commissioners think there is a need for a $ 20M courthouse they should take it to the voters in the form of a bond referendum. Lets see what the voters think.

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Oconee County voters are at a disadvantage as this unfolds. With the exception of Judge Sweat we will not have a chance to hold anyone accountable for at least 2 years and in some cases 4 years. Commissioners Davis, Luke and Horton and Sheriff Berry must run for reelection in 2 years, Commissioners Hale and Daniell are currently on the ballot with no opposition. Voters must resolve to have long memories. We recently saw what can happen if voters pay attention to the actions of those we elect when a School Board member was voted out by an overwhelming margin after voting a huge expenditure for land to be used for administrative facilities.

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I hope you will pay attention to this issue, let the decision makers know where you stand, keep a long memory and hold them accountable. Let's not forget to hold big spenders accountable at the local level as we work to hold them accountable at the state and national level.